© twitter (screen capture)
Large hail fell in Medina, Saudi Arabia on February 24, 2018
Large hail fell in Medina, Saudi Arabia on February 24, 2018
Earth Changes
SPOTLESS SUN SPARKS PINK AURORAS
On Feb. 23rd the sun was completely blank (no sunspots) and NOAA classified solar activity as "very low." Nevertheless, this happened:
"Despite the blank sun, we witnessed a beautiful display of auroras," reports photographer Andrei Andritcu from Tromso, Norway. In addition to the usual green, the lights contained a splash of pink.
In auroras, pink is a sign of nitrogen. Ordinary green auroras are caused by energetic particles from space hitting oxygen atoms 100 km to 300 km above Earth's surface. Pink appears when the energetic particles descend lower than usual, striking nitrogen molecules at the 100 km level and below.
Snow showers look set to bring travel misery as they hit the south of England over the weekend before spreading across the country
This weekend will see temperatures plummet before lows of -10C hit early next week and snow sweeps in from southern England.
The Met Office is predicting highly disruptive snowfall across the country beginning in the South East.
Comment: More on the situation affecting Europe:
The northern hemisphere is experiencing a wild winter; elsewhere the situation is just as unusual:
- Brutal cold likely to make comeback in Northeast US following once-in-100-year warmth
- The polar vortex just split into a double vortex - cold temps for Europe will persist
- This brutal winter's record breaking weather documented in epic list - and it's not over yet
- Hawaii Island mountain summits buried in snow
- UK struck by 21 earthquakes in 50 DAYS including biggest in 10 years
- SOTT Earth Changes Summary - January 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs
Albeit at 2,423 m above sea level, this is not far off the coast of the Western Sahara!
Total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected, the National Weather Service says. Observatory webcams on Mauna Kea show whiteout conditions.
Forecasters say strong winds are also possible, making travel very hazardous or impossible.
The Maunakea Summit Access road remains closed to the public at the Visitor Information Station at an elevation of 9, 200 feet, ranger say.
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Liza Kanareikina's body was torn to pieces and discovered by her parents near Donetsk to the east of the country.
They found her body in woodland where she would walk daily when she failed to return home.
Neighbour Natalia Skiba said: 'The child was walking back home and did not make it. She was found here in the forest, already torn to pieces.'
A local report said: 'Pieces of meat were literally torn off her body, the snow around was red from blood.'
The smell of the deceased mammal spread around the vicinity.
Fahd Abdullah Juma, an Emirati national from the Al Rams area, said the smell of the deceased mammal spread around the vicinity.
"This is mainly because of remaining dead for long hours," he said, urging the bodies concerned to remove it as soon as possible.
"The smell is so terrible that the people of Al Rams cannot go to the beach there," he said, urging the bodies concerned to scientifically dissect the dead whale and identify the actual reasons for its death.
© BGS
A British Geological Survey chart shows the seismic activity during the UK earthquake last week
A British Geological Survey chart shows the seismic activity during the UK earthquake last week
The news that Brits are living on shaky ground comes after a 4.6 quake struck in Wales last week, and was reported to be the strongest to have hit the UK in 10 years.
The British Geological Survey has registered the specific location of the quake to be the village of Cwmllynfell near Swansea.
BGS figures show that four others struck in Cwmllynfell the same day.
The 4.6 quake at 2:31pm was followed by a 1.8 quake at 2.35pm, a 1.2 quake at 3.09pm, a 1.5 quake at 4.27pm and a 2.2 quake at 11.17pm.
The most recent quake to send shockwaves across our shores struck in Llanfechell in Wales on February 18.
It measured just 1.1 on the richter scale.
Out of the 21 quakes 10 of them were in Wales, with an assortment of villages that make up the area of Llanwenog feeling a 0.9 magnitude quake on January 11, and the village of Llangybi experiencing a 1.0 earthquake on January 6.
There were three earthquakes in England with Shropshire feeling a 1.5 quake on February 10, and Cumbria feeling a 1.0 quake January 29.
Comment: Following last week's 4.6 magnitude earthquake in the UK, which was felt from Cornwall to Liverpool, a British Geological Survey tweet stated that, "Events of this magnitude only happen in the UK every 2-3 years."
Actually, there have been about 7 similar-strength quakes in the UK in the last 3 years alone...
22 May 2015 - A 4.2 magnitude earthquake 'causes homes to shake' in Kent, UK
25 May 2015 - Magnitude 3.0 earthquake recorded in North Wales
29 Jan 2015 - Britain's second earthquake in 48 hours strikes in East Midlands
7 Mar 2016 - Earthquake 'shook houses' in south-east England
3 Jan 2017 - 3.9 magnitude tremor strikes off UK coast - biggest quake for nearly a decade
4 July 2017 - Earthquake recorded off Shetland was largest in UK for nine years
5 Aug 2017 - Scottish Highlands are rocked by their biggest earthquake for 30 years
We are seeing a marked increase in seismic activity around the world lately, could it be related to scientists' predictions that major earthquakes for 2018 due to slowdown in Earth's rotation?
© USGS
Epicenter of a magnitude 3.6 earthquake Friday in the East Bay area.
Epicenter of a magnitude 3.6 earthquake Friday in the East Bay area.
The largest in the sequence, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake, came at 12:19 p.m. Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey received reports from more than 1,000 people who said they felt the quake, extending from the East Bay and into San Francisco. The quake was quite shallow, less than a third of a mile under the surface of the earth.
A magnitude 2.8 aftershock was felt two minutes later.
Earthquake swarms like the one that began on Feb. 16 in the Danville area have been common over the past few decades, occurring in 1970, 1976, 1990, 2002, 2003 and 2015. They occur in the San Ramon Valley corridor along Interstate 680 between Walnut Creek and the Dublin and Pleasanton areas, said U.S. Geological Survey research geologist Belle Philibosian.
The Calaveras fault runs right along the San Ramon Valley. In the Danville area, the fault zone transitions and steps over to the Concord fault, which continues north into Concord, Philibosian said. There is a complex zone of small faults in this transition area.
While the San Andreas and Hayward faults are well known to many in the Bay Area for their seismic risk, the Calaveras and Concord faults also pose a substantial risk. The Calaveras fault is as long as the Hayward fault, for instance, and can produce a magnitude 7 earthquake, Philibosian said.
Comment: Some other earthquake swarms recorded from around the world recently include:
- Yellowstone: 200 quakes in just 10 days after warning that magma is causing strain on the surface
- Earthquake swarm intensifies at Grímsey island, Iceland
- Earthquake swarm hits Canary Islands' La Palma
- Earthquake swarm under dormant Furnas volcano, Azores
The swimmer was in the water at Congwong Beach in La Perouse at 7pm on Friday when she was attacked by what is believed to have been a shark.
In the wake of the attack, the local council has announced all beaches in the area will be closed on 'for at least Saturday'.
The woman, who is aged in her 50s, was taken to St George Hospital where she is being treated for severe lacerations to one of her legs.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said it was unclear what species of shark had bitten the woman.
Ice-covered bald eagle
Oklahoma Game Wardens posted a video to Facebook showing the eagle sparkling on the Osage/Kay county line, where it was found covered in ice by ranchers.
Game Warden Spencer Grace responded to the location and determined the icy eagle was unable to fly more than a short distance after being caught in the recent ice storm.
Grace captured the eagle and brought it into his truck, where he used the vehicle's heater to thaw the frosty avian for about 45 minutes.
Comment: The quieting Sun means Earth's own fields are becoming weaker meaning more particles can move further into our atmosphere, as well as more cosmic rays, so these 'rare' sights are becoming increasingly common, as well as some never seen before phenomena:
- New atmospheric phenomenon discovered by SWARM satellites
- Solar minimum is upon us and 20 years of data shows other stars are exhibiting similar signs
- Scientists predict upsurge in major earthquakes for 2018 due to slowdown in Earth's rotation
- Ice age on the way: Gulf Stream is slowing down faster than ever, scientists say
- Rare blue auroras seen in the Arctic Circle
- Incredible aurora phenomenon captured over Washington and Alberta
- Rare pink auroras sparked by spotless Sun's solar wind
- Revision to 400-year sunspot record makes current solar cycle weakest in 200 years
- Rare red sprites in action: Mysterious electric tendrils lighting up the sky over Oklahoma filmed
- 'Strange' Arctic rainbow and red 'summer' sprites in winter - rare atmospheric events on the increase
- Lament for Babylon
Check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?